The Sirius Mystery

From the Dust Jacket: How is it possible for the secret traditions of an African tribe to contain detailed data on the star Sirius which modern astronomers have only just discovered? Why can this strange information be traced back to the even older civilizations of Sumer and Egypt? The most ancient and scared traditions of the Dogon tribe in West Africa maintain that the existence of civilization on earth is a result of contact from inhabitants of a planet in the system of the star Sirius. Central to their cosmology is a body of knowledge concerning the system of the star Sirius that is astounding in its accuracy of detail, including specific information only recently accessible to modern science, notably the prediction of a third star which was only confirmed in 1995. Robert Temple's awe-inspiring detective work traces the traditions of the Dogon and three related tribes back 5,000 years to the ancient Mediterranean cultures of Sumer and Egypt.^ He shows that these ancient civilizations possessed not only great wealth and learning, but also a knowledge dependent on physics and astrophysics, which they claimed was imported to them by visitors from Sirius. Temple shows how these discoveries will revolutionize our understanding of the Sphinx. Here for the first time he also reveals that the very earliest myths of the Greeks and the Chinese contain related claims about the founding of civilization by amphibious beings. Many authors have speculated on the subject of extraterrestrial contact in ancient times, but never before has such detailed evidence been presented. The result of over thirty years of meticulously documented research, The Sirius Mystery presents a radical reappraisal of the beginnings of civilization and of early ancient history.^ The implications of this material for humanity may be entirely unparalleled: 'The best questions, ' writes Temple, 'are the ones which often remain unanswered for a long time and lead us down new avenues of thought and experience.